Life

Nanoleaf's Aurora shines a light on tech design

Let’s face it, technology and design haven’t always mixed well. The earliest technology pieces looked like they were designed by engineers (which, of course, they were) and without the input of anyone with a creative bone in their body. At least, not the kind of creativity that most would consider “artistic.”

When it came to the first personal computers, a lot of the design was based on the materials at hand. For example, the Commodore PET was made with a metal housing because Commodore owned a metal fabrication facility. (They also made filing cabinets and metal desks at the time.) When Commodore hired Ira Velinksy, things changed as the design for the Commodore B128 would go on to win design awards. It was rumoured that Commodore hired Porsche to design computers for them, which was true, but they ultimately stuck with Velinksy’s design. This was possibly the first time a computer was designed by someone with a sense for good aesthetics.

Apple products have often been deemed “sexy” but that certainly wasn’t the case (pardon the pun) with its early products. It wasn’t until Steve Jobs came back and Apple started producing products, such as the iMac “Sunflower,” that you could consider design playing a key role in the development of the machine. Today, the design of phones and tablets all take the look and feel into consideration as much as anything else.

Of course, computers aren’t the only technology affected by design. What happens when you marry design and technology together? The results can be stunning as I found out, recently, with something that showed up at my door from a Toronto-based company called Nanoleaf.

Called the Aurora lighting panels, the starter kit includes nine modular lighting panels. The triangular panels can connect together in virtually any configuration you want to fit the wall (or even ceiling!) of your choice. The instructions include some example configurations but you are completely free to choose any layout that works for you.

The lighting panels connect together with the included connectors, which are about the size of a piece of gum and look similar to USB connectors. As soon as you attach them to the main controller piece, you are good to go. The panels will light up but that’s only a small part of the story. You can flip through a bunch of pre-designed scenes that are included as well as program your own setup. You can even download new pre-made lighting setups from an accompanying app on your iOS or Android device. The only thing I didn’t like about the device is that, of course, there is now a cord hanging down that has to plug into the wall but maybe the next version will somehow use wireless power. Yes, that’s a thing, and it is coming.

Since the Aurora connects to things, such as Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri, you can actually turn it on and off with just your voice. So saying, “Hey Siri, turn on my bedroom lights” or “Hey Siri, turn on my lights” can actually activate the Aurora. You can even be more specific by saying,“Hey Siri, set my lights to green” or “Hey Siri, set my lights to 50%." Does it feel like Star Trek has become a reality? You bet it has.

Products, such as Nanoleaf’s Aurora make it possible for people who love the design and aesthetics of regular everyday items to now unleash a higher level of potential because of the benefits technology provides to us. We are no longer limited to having great function at the cost of appearance and design. Creative minds can now run free with the greatest of technology behind them and the Aurora is just one product that unleashes that power. I haven’t felt this way in a long time since unboxing a tech product but it truly made me feel like we are stepping into the next evolution of technology products in the home that are both functional and “cool.”